Arknights CN Tier List 2021

Making tier lists for Arknights is known to be not easy. The reason is because the game needs more tactical and strategic execution than only relying on statistics to clear even the hardest operations, which are able to be done even with Operators that have low rarity.

Besides, every Operator class has their own archetypes and sub-archetypes and so the Operators do stand out compared to the others within their class’ archetype. That’s why, this tier list is used if you want to compare the performance of the Operators within the main archetypes of their classes and is not used as the information for the meta of the game.

Operator tier list:

Do take note that this tier list only includes the Operators that are currently available in the Global or EN server and are updated as of February 5, 2021.

Casters

ST:

• • S: Ceobe, Eyjafjalla
  • A:  Amiya, Absinthe, Nightmare
  • B: Leizi, Click, Haze
  • C: Steward
  • D: Durin

AoE:

• • S: Ifrit, Mostima
  • A: Skyfire, Gitano
  • B: Leonhardt, Greyy
  • C: Lava
  • D: 12F

Channneler:

• • A: Beeswax

Defenders

Tank:

• • S: Hoshiguma, Nian, Liskarm
  • A: Asbestos, Bison, Croissant, Cuora
  • B: Matterhorn
  • C: Dur-nar, Beagle, Cargiigan
  • D: Noir Corne

Healing:

• • S: Saria
  • A: Nearl
  • B: Hung, Gummy
  • C: Spot

Enmity:

• • A: Vulcan

Guards

ST:

• • S: Chen, Hellagur, Skadi
  • A: Astesia, Bibeak, Franka,Indra
  • B: Flamebringer, Sideroca, Beehunter, Cutter, Mousse, Motaimaru, Utage
  • C: Melantha

Ranged:

• • S: SilverAsh, Thorns
  • A: Lappland
  • B: Ayerscarpe, Frostleaf
  • C: Swire, Midnight
  • D:  Dobermann

AoE:

• • S: Blaze, Specter
  • A:  Broca
  • B: Savage, Estelle
  • C: Popukar

Other:

• • C: Castle-3

Medics

ST:

• • S: Shining, Silence, Warfarin
  • A: Ceylon
  • B: Gavial,Myrrh, Sussurro
  • C: Ansel, Hibiscus

AoE:

• • A: Nightingale, Ptilopsis, Perfumer
  • B: Breeze
  • Other:
  • C: Lancet-2

Snipers

ST:

• • S: Exusiai, Rosa, Schwarz
  • A: Andreana, Blue Poison, Firewatch, GreyThroat, Platinum, Provence
  • B: May, Vermeil, Kroos
  • C: Ambriel, Jessica, Meteor
  • D: Adnachiel, Rangers

AoE:

• • S: W, Meteorite
  • A: Executor, ShiraYuki
  • B: Sesa
  • C: Catapult

Specialists

Shift:

• • S: Weedy
  • A: Cliffheart, FEater
  • B: Rope, Snowsant, Shaw

Fast-redeploy:

• • S: Phantom
  • A:  Projekt Red, Waai Fu, Garvel, Jaye

Controller:

• • A: Manticore, Ethan

Shooter:

• • A: Ask

Other:

• • B: THRM-EX

Supporters

Slower:

• • S: Angelina, Suzuran
  • A: Glaucus, Istina
  • B: Eathspirit, Podenco
  • C: Orchid

Enabler:

• • S: Shamare
  • A: Pramanix, Sora
  • B: Tsukinogi

Summoner:

• • S: Magallan, Scene
  • A: Mayer
  • B: Deepcolor

Vanguards

Defensive:

• • S: Siege, Texas
  • A: Zima
  • B: Chiave, Courier, Scavenger
  • C: Fang, Vanilla

Offensive:

• • S: Bagpipe
  • A: Reed, Vigna
  • B: Grani
  • C: Plume

Supportive:

• • S: Elysium
  • A: Myrtle

Other:

• • D: Yato

Tiers and their explanations

• S means the Operator is amazing in their expected role and are considered as the best one in the game.
• A means the Operator is really good in their expected role.
• B means the Operator is good in their expected role.
• C means the Operator is satisfactory in their expected role.
• D means the Operator does well in their expected role when there are no other options.
• X means the Operator has a special or situational role and only performs as expected in specific conditions.

About Operators

In the game known as the Arknights, the term Operators refer to the characters that are used in the battle by the players. As you probably know, the game is a tower defense game, and each Operator usually acts as the tower. As a player, you place the Operators in the locations around the battlefield to block the opponents from reaching the objective.

Operators are divided into six rarities, ranging from 1 to 6.

• 6-star: Aak, Angelina, Bagpipe, Blaze, Ceobe, Chen, Eunectes, Exusiai, Eyjafjalla, Hellagur, Hoshiguma, Ifrit, Magallan, Mostima, Nian, Nightingale, Phantom, Rosa, Saria, Schwarz, Shining, Siege, SilverAsh, Skadi, Suzuran, Thorns, W, Weedy
• 5-star: Absinthe, Amiya, Andreana, Asbestos, Astesia, Ayerscarpe, Beeswax, Bibeak, Bison, Blue Poison, Breeze, Broca, Ceylon, Chiave, Cliffheart, Croissant, Elysium, Executor, FEater, Firewatch, Flamebringer, Flint, Folinic, Franka, Glaucus, Grani, GreyThroat, Hung, Inrda, Istina, Lappland, Leizi, Leonhardt, Liskarm, Manticore, Mayer, Meteorite, Nearl, Nightmare, Platinum, Pramanix, Projekt Red, Provence, Ptilopsis, Reed, Savage, Scene, Sesa, Shamare, Sideroca, Silence, Skyfire, Snowsant, Sora, Specter, Swire, Texas, Tomimi, Tsukinogi, Vulcan, Waai Fu, Warfarin, Zima
• 4-star: Aciddrop, Ambriel, Beehunter, Click, Courier, Cuora, Cutter, Deepcolor, Dobermann, Dur-nar, Earthspirit, Estelle, Ethan, Frostleaf, Gavial, Gitano, Gravel, Greyy, Gummy, Haze, Jaye, Jessica, Matoimaru, Matterhorn, May, Meteor, Mousse, Myrrh, Myrtle, Perfumer, Podenco, Rope, Scavenger, Shaw, ShiraYuki, Sussurro, Utage, Vermeil, VIgna
• 3-star: Adnachielm Ansel, Beagle, Cardigan, Catapult, Fang, Hibiscus, Kroos, Lava, Melantha, Midnight, Orchid, Plume, Popukar, Spot, Steward, Vanilla
• 2-star: 12F, Durin, Noir Corne, Rangers, Yato
• 1-star: Castle-3, Lancet-2, THRM-EX

In some cases, the lower rarity Operators are still helpful, generally due to their lower deployment costs. If you compare them to the others, these ones are also much cheaper to develop, meaning they are best options to develop early if you are eager to progress through the game faster. The ones with low rarity that are good options to develop early marked by a red border.

If you are not familiar with the borders, red ones can be easily recruited or earned for free without having to rely on the gacha. They are all the good for early investments. Sometimes, the low rarity ones are stronger compared to the high rarity ones when they are both at equal, lower Promotion levels.

Apart from the red borders, there are also the ones with blue borders. For your information, the blue borders represent Operators that are worth considering for Promotion to Elite 2 or E2. E2 Operators are divided into some: E2 YES!, E2 Mastery,, E2 STATS, and E2 Specialty. With the E2 YES!, you will be able to see the difference of their E2 gains in no time. E2 Mastery are the ones that see their most noticeable gains from increasing the Mastery of their Skills. E2 STATS are the ones that you promote mainly for the stats they can gain at the higher levels enabled by E2. They usually do their job well at E1. E2 Specialty are the ones that provide niche utility, have unique roles, and are usually used in certain end game strategies or cases.